Page 44 of House of Vampires and Flame

I beamed at her. “Eating cakes and building a friendship.”

“You’ll have to be careful, though, Little Bob.” She paused for a second, a shadow in her eyes. “The academy isn’t as safe as it appears to be. I saw darkness and danger hovering over you.”

That was the story of my life, as I hid a terrible secret that I didn’t want anyone to know.

“I know it!” I offered. “All the prince heirs are dangerous, and Killian is more so. I think he’s marked me.”

“Marked you how?”

“He fixed his uninvited gaze upon me. He laughed at me when Louis badmouthed me. And then he smirked and winked at me before I ran into you. I was trying to get away from him in Sun Harbor in the first place.”

“Sun Harbor is an exclusive club,” Bea said. “But you must’ve been mistaken about Prince Killian. He doesn’t do smirks, laughs, or winks; he barely smiles. Actually, no one in the academy has ever seen him smile.” She shook her head. “You might be a hot squire to Prince Louis, but I don’t think other princes, especially the prince of the House of Chaos, will fix their attention on a servant boy. No offense, though.”

She forgot that she’d just said my power grade was off the charts.

“Yeah, whatever,” I said. “But I need to find out Killian’s weakness, just in case.”

“Don’t go poking a hornet’s nest. Keep your head down.”

The chatter around us suddenly quieted down. Potent power rolled into the air.

Pretty boy is here, Sy purred, fully awake now, and I felt the swirling of her lust.

This isn’t the time to be in heat! I snapped.

Her heat could muddle my mind.

I need to feed! she protested. It’s been a week!

You can survive without fucking for a week or two, I said. We both agreed to lie low for a while. This realm is our best chance to hide from Ruin. We can’t just fuck it up!

I rose from my seat and craned my neck to peek down just as Prince Cade sauntered upstairs, his hands in his pants pocket, his turquoise eyes locking onto me. A wicked smirk hung on his lips, and a delicious dimple sank into his right cheek.

Damn, that man was hot! No wonder Sy was restless.

Cool your tits! I warned as I slumped down in my seat and sank lower to be out of sight.

The mage prince wouldn’t be seeking me out, would he? I was nobody. I was a low servant who looked ridiculous with my short golden curls.

Tension left my legs that were about to sprint as I watched Cade stroll to his exclusive table and sit his arrogant ass down on the most comfortable sofa over the brim of my teacup.

“We should get out of here, like sneak out,” I whispered to Bea.

She bit her lower lip and nodded. She was shy around her prince.

“You go and I’ll follow,” I suggested.

“Maybe you should leave first,” she whispered back.

“Bob!” someone shouted.

Maybe there was another Bob here. Unable to help myself, I darted my wild gaze around to look for that Bob. No one else answered, and my gaze shot to Cade, only to find him wiggling his pinkie at me, beckoning me to go to him.

It wouldn’t end well if I went to him, so I dipped my head and dropped my gaze, pretending that I didn’t hear or see him.

“Go!” I urged Bea, who stared at me, a flash of worry in her eyes. She’d heard Cade calling my name as well. Unfortunately, it seemed there was only one Bob here.

“Little Bob!” Cade shouted, his voice unnecessarily loud. “Get your ass here. Right fucking now!”

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